Anti-gerrymandering group finds support in Holland, across Michigan

Thursday

Martha Winsche, a resident of the Holland-area since the 1980’s, has never been outwardly involved in politics.

Yet, she is one of at least 3,000 active and trained volunteers circulating petitions for Voters Not Politicians. The goal of this independent group is to change redistricting methods in Michigan and put an end to gerrymandering.

"I could never work for a personal campaign or for a political party,” Winsche said. “But this was an (independent) issue and group and I think we need to be represented."

Gerrymandering is the drawing of voting districts in a way that favors one political party over another. Michigan is one of 37 states that gives all of this power to the state legislature when districts are redrawn every 10 years.

In order for final maps to pass, a simple majority of each chamber of the state legislature must vote yes. The governor has the power to veto the redistricting plan.

However, when one party controls each of these areas, they effectively have full control over the redistricting process with zero input from other parties.

According to Voters Not Politicans’ website, currently legislators choose their voters, instead of voters choosing their legislators in Michigan.

"We are looking to take the power of redistricting and give it back to the people,” said Katie Fahey, president and treasurer of Voters not Politicians. “We want to take it away from the politicians to give Michiganders a voice again."

The group has collected about 350,000 signatures already, which is more than the 315,654 signatures required to get a proposal on the ballot for the 2018 election. The goal is to collect 400,000 signatures before turning petitions into the secretary of state.

Fahey said some the signatures collected will be invalid for one reason or another, which is why the group is shooting for 400,000 signatures. The deadline to turn the signatures in is mid-February.

If enough signatures are collected and deemed valid, a proposal from Voters Not Politicians will appear on ballots for Michigan voters in the 2018 election.

The group’s proposal would create a commission of citizens to handle redistricting for the state.

The commission would be made of four Democrats, four Republicans and five members without a major party affiliation drawn randomly by the secretary of state.

The commission would not be allowed to provide advantages to one political party or another and would have to use partisan fairness when redrawing districts.

The next step for Voters Not Politicians after the signature gathering phase will be to educate voters on the issue and encourage them to vote in favor of their proposal.

“If you look at the current redistricting process, it literally could not get any worse,” Fahey said. “It is extremely partisan and none of it it takes into account the people in the community affected by their representatives.”

The group has collected signatures from people in all of Michigan’s 83 counties. Fahey said Ottawa County and Holland in particular are some of the areas where the group has been able to collect a large number of signatures.

Winsche has been at the Holland Farmer’s Market with her husband Jack Gisinger collecting signatures every Sunday and Wednesday for the past three months.

When Winsche first got involved she had no idea how successful the group would be or if they could really make an impact. Then 450 signatures were collected in Holland on the first day of the campaign.

Holland-area residents have gone out of their way find Voters Not Politicians volunteers and to sign the petition, Winsche said. The group’s website does have a list of events volunteers will be collecting signatures at.

Winsche said having fair voting districts may not change which political party is in power in certain areas of the state, but would still have an impact on elections.

"When we have fair representation more people vote, younger people vote, the candidates are younger and more diverse and there are fewer incumbents winning,” Winsche said.

For volunteers like Winsche, work done by Voters Not Politicians is very important.

"That's what democracy is supposed to be, right?,” Winsche said. “Citizens are supposed to be involved and do stuff. Most of us never have, but this cause is worthy."

— Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelJake.

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